The airborne branch of Ukraine’s armed forces has a new top commander: Major General Yevhen Moysiuk.
Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak appointed Moysiuk to this new position on Aug. 21.
The new top Ukrainian paratrooper replaces Lieutenant General Mykhailo Zabrodskiy, an iconic commander who holds the title of “Hero of Ukraine” for his successful combat operations against Russian and Russian-backed insurgent forces in Donbas in 2014-2015. In particular, Zabrodskiy gained fame for leading the elite 95th Airborne Brigade in an unprecedented 470-kilometer hit-and-run raid through hostile territory in July-August 2014, which later became known as “Zabrodskiy’s raid.”
In July 2019, the general was elected to parliament with the European Solidarity party of former President Petro Poroshenko and had to relinquish his duties as the top leader of the Airborne Forces. The newly-elected Verkhovna Rada is expected to hold its very first session as soon as Aug. 29.
“I thank General Zabrodskiy for his service, and I wish him new accomplishments in the new field of lawmaking with all of my heart,” Poltorak wrote on his Facebook page early on Aug. 21.
In the Ukrainian Armed Forces, airborne troops are one of five standalone branches of service along with ground forces, air forces, special operations forces, and naval forces. The airborne forces are generally considered the elite, best trained, and most combat-ready Ukrainian troops. This is, in no small measure, because the paratrooper formations are traditionally actively involved in Ukraine’s peacekeeping activities around the world, particularly in Iraq and the former Yugoslavia.
Following the Russian invasion in 2014, the force took a step away from many of its Soviet-era traditions shared with its Russian counterparts. In particular, under the leadership of General Zabrodskiy, the airborne branch switched to wearing Western-style maroon berets instead of the sky-blue ones inherited from the Soviet era.
Additionally, in 2017, the branch was renamed the Air Assault Forces in order to rid it of its former “VDV” acronym, which was widely associated with the Soviet legacy of the airborne formations and their current Russian analogue.
The new airborne commander, General Moysiuk, 39, also has a profound combat history.
In 2004-2005, he served with the Ukrainian military contingent in Iraq’s al-Kut province, east of Baghdad, and later was deployed to Kosovo in 2008-2009 as part of the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping mission.
He participated in the hostilities in Donbas from the very first days of Russia’s invasion. In particular, General Moysiuk was charged with the defense of the Donetsk Airport from December 2014 until the final days of the bloody battle in January 2015. After the fall of the ruined airport after 242 days of stubborn defense, Moysiuk coordinated the withdrawal of the last surviving Ukrainian defenders.
He was assigned the rank of Major General in December 2018.
“(General Moysiuk) has repeatedly demonstrated heroism and courage while defending Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” Defense Minister Poltorak wrote on Facebook.
“So I am convinced that his experience will help develop and enhance the potential of the Air Assault Forces.”
